Best Way to Get Results

        There are tons of advices out there to help you become a better person. What should you do? My recommendation is to ignore them all and proceed to seek union with Christ. Let him alone advise you and make your journey easy and joyful. To get results, follow the best guide.

Jesus Our Supreme Guide

        Today's Gospel Acclamation (Mark 10.45): "The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus is the supreme example! Without him, there is no reliable guide to follow. Among all the spiritual teachers and gurus, none can possibly compare with him. His great(est) love no one can possibly match. His authoritative teaching is simple, courageous, and challenging. He lived up to what he taught by example. And by the way, most of all he is God! 

God Is for Ever

        Today's Entrance Song at Mass: "I am the salvation of the people, says the Lord. Should they cry to me in any distress, I will hear them, and I will be their Lord for ever." What I love about our Lord is the "for ever" part ~ he lives and loves us for ever, his mercy endures for ever, he is with and waits for us for ever, and he forgives us, if we repent, for ever. This is the God we must spend our eternal life with for ever. 

Enjoying Now or Later

        I've been watching people I more or less know. Some are very much occupied with building a material empire of their own, you might say, and others want to take in as many worldly pleasures as possible ~ we all need recreation, but it's easy to go overboard. How much beneficial it will be to our souls if we all devote just, say 10% of our waking hours to prayer and doing charitable work for God. This probably would reduce at least 10% of the time we'll be spending in purgatory. Anyhow, it's either "enjoy now and worry later" or "'worry' now and enjoy later." I prefer the latter simply because whatever we enjoy later will be a lot more enjoyable than anything we enjoy now.

Grow the Easy Way

        Here is promoting the same message in a slightly different way. We are like helpless infants before God. We try to be good, to be more loving, to feel happy...on my own, but it is always a struggle with slow or no progress. The secret of success is let God do it for us. Then we must let him in first and put our trust in him and it will work like a miracle (I almost used the word "magic"). This is something God loves to do and it's right up his alley too. 

Vanity Is Illusory

        Today is the Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul. Reading 1 at Mass came from Ecclesiastes 1, which starts off with the familiar verse "Vanity of vanities! All things are vanities!" This got me thinking about our ego. If we are so concerned about ourselves that we want people to notice, praise, admire, or look up to us, does that actually make us a better person? Is humility not a virtue anymore? The good feeling we yearn to get, if you can call it good, is basically illusory, not true happiness, as deep down we all know. Only how we appear to God, definitely not vanity, matters. 

Sins Are Obvious

        St. Teresa also said that sins are not hidden because God is rightly aware of them since they take place squarely in the presence of the Majesty and we act so disrespectfully in front of him! 

        This is absolutely true and a great picture for us to keep in mind.

Where to Seek God

        I just finished reading St. Teresa's Life. For recollected persons, she learned from the Lord to consider him as very deep within the soul rather than thinking of him as outside oneself. She pointed out that St. Augustine also found God when he sought him within himself, so it is not necessary to go to heaven or further than our own selves. I already mentioned in past postings that when we are in union with the Lord, we become one with him and just know that he dwells within us. God cannot be any closer. 

Comparing Ourselves to God

        Being all sinners before God, we are not qualified to judge each other and there is no profit in comparing ourselves with others. The only one we should look up to is the Lord, who alone is perfect, sees our sins, knows what we lack spiritually, and can make us holy. Compare ourselves to him for great profit.

Desire for Union

        The Communion Song at today's Mass, Romans 8.38-39: "Neither death nor life nor any created thing will be able to separate us from the love of Christ." Believing that this is true, I received the Lord in Holy Communion, acknowledging and accepting his love and expressing my desire for union with him. I pictured two panes of wet glass stuck together, united as one and inseparable.

Receiving More than We Think

        St. Teresa also told that when she approached to receive Communion, the Lord let her behold the extraordinary majesty present in the Blessed Sacrament and her hair stood on end, the whole experience seeming to annihilate her. She marveled at God's wonderful wisdom to conceal such great majesty in something so small as the host. If he did not hide such grandeur, no one would have the courage and strength to approach this union. So let's realize that when we receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, we receive all of him, a lot, lot more than we think! 

Heaven Is Worth Awaiting

        St. Teresa in her Life described that the glory, delight, and consolation God gave her in a vision or rapture was go great that it seemed impossible that there could be anything more to desire here below. Imagine how we would feel in heaven! I have no doubt that anyone who can feel what heaven is like for just 5 seconds or less would want to be with God forever. So let's keep up the faith. Believe in Christ and you won't be disappointed ~ this is putting it very mildly.

Clear-Cut Choices

       (1) Do you believe that Jesus actually lived in this world once or that he is just a fictitious character?

        (2) If he actually did live among us in the past, then do you believe that he is divine, the Son of God, our Savior as he claimed he was or that he was totally crazy or false, lying or trying to trick people (in other words, the Gospel stories were mostly likely all made up)?

       (3) If he is indeed our Savior, then do you think that we should totally, partially, or not at all believe in him?  
        It's clear that with God, it must be all or nothing.

Jesus Forever Beautiful

        I did not make Mass yesterday, so today I was most happy going back to receive the Lord. I felt that Christ was truly my refuge. After Communion, I was overwhelmed by his beauty and wanted to give him my heart once more. 

Banishing Anxiety

        Anxiety is always caused by our own will. Once we follow God's will in all things, anxiety vanishes. It is that simple.

Take God Seriously, Please

        Yesterday, I experienced some dizziness while driving; I pulled my car to the roadside, parked, and waited until I recovered. In just those few moments, I saw how life can easily slip away from us. This was a good experience for me ~ it's the kind of wake-up call we all need. Various saints and mystics have been shown hell by God and they are never the same again after that. On this blog, you can check out the account by Fr. Steven Scheier in the video A Judgment Experience. People are dying right and left everyday. For Catholics, please go to confession regularly and often. The first order of business is to take care of your soul. Take God's love and justice seriously!

Common Downfalls

        (1) Our health fails. (2) Our mind fails and we become forgetful, demential, or even insane. (3) Last, the most detrimental of all ~ we sin and stain our soul.
        The precariousness of life calls for the saving power of God.   

Jesus Our Greatest Consolation

        We are always happy when we meet someone who shares the same interests or holds the same views as ours. With the right people, communication is a joy. On the other hand, two people who have suffered the same illness or gone through similar painful experiences find consolation when they find out that they are not alone. Kindred spirits, soul mates, whatever you want to call it, bond easily with each other. Well, Jesus can be all that to us! When we love him, he becomes our best friend and most intimate, constant companion. Our wills coincide and we see eye to eye on all things. In union with us, he becomes our greatest consolation and joy.